Touch Detective
Touch Detective (おさわり探偵 小沢里奈 Osawari Tantei: Ozawa Rina, literally "Touch Detective: Rina Ozawa"), known as Mystery Detective in Europe (except in France) is a point-and-click mystery adventure game for the Nintendo DS which makes use of the device's touch screen. It was developed by BeeWorks and released in Japan by Success Corporation, on April 13, 2006. It was developed and released in the United States by Atlus, on October 24, 2006, and in Europe by 505 Games, on March 23, 2007.'' It was released for the iOS on August 4, 2011. Free: First case, first part of second case. Gameplay The player controls the rookie detective Mackenzie as she solves four mysteries in the small town of Osawari. Both the art style and the plot reflect a subtle fantasy mood. Aside from the main plots, there are also a number of small bonus mysteries that involve much simpler tasks. The game is entirely controlled via the touch screen. Tapping on the screen will make Mack walk over to that spot, talk to that character or examine that object. The player has an inventory of items collected, and may use them on other items or objects in the environment. The player can also present inventory items to the characters to learn new information. Mackenzie's assistant, Funghi, is used as an aid in some puzzles. Cromwell offers a free tutorial at the beginning, with hints and helpful information. Cases Mackenzie learns that in order to join the ranks of the Great Detective Society, she must solve four cases and submit her investigation report to the Society. Fortunately for her, several cases seem to pop up around town. Penelope comes to Mackenzie because she claims her dreams are being stolen. Mackenzie first acquires a special invention from Cromwell so that she can see into Penelope's dreams and understands what happens: a strange creature is seen fleeing from Penelope's dorm room just before she wakes up. Mackenzie investigates further and finds a way to enter the Dream World, but finds no one there that can help because the rest of the town is not yet asleep. Finding a way to convince everyone to fall asleep at the same time that Penelope does, she is then able to stop the fleeing figure and reveal it to be the pastry chef in town. Antoinette admits to the crime, using the crystallized dreams as an ingredient in her Sweet Dream Cake dessert. Fortunately, Penelope and the chef agree that she will only take Penelope's dreams once a week. Penelope goes missing, and upon investigation, it looks like her room was broken into. However, it is revealed that Chloe, trying to find Penelope before Mackenzie, broke in and tried to find evidence. However, regardless of Chloe's bumbling, Mackenzie is led to the Planetarium and its strange owner, Ogden, as well as a little girl named Lynsey who seems to like playing with dolls. After catching him buying girls clothes in sizes too large for her, Mackenzie soon discovers that the planetarium owner lured Penelope and now is keeping her in a secret room under mind control in order for her to be Lynsey's friend. Mackenzie is able to rescue Penelope, have the owner captured, and befriends Lynsey so she won't be lonely again. Penelope claims that a snow fairy, Noel, is stranded at the Ice Skating Rink, the only cold place in town, but Mackenzie cannot see him though she can sense him. The owner of the rink, Barnaby, is tired of living in the cold and is looking to shut the rink down, causing the temperature in the rink to rise and threaten the life of the fairy. Chloe comes up with two near-disastrous ideas for saving the fairy, but Mackenzie realizes all they need to do is make it snow so the fairy can be get out from the ice rink and to a more comfortable location. Mackenzie helps Chloe in enchanting a spell that summons forth an "angel" (Penelope in an angel outfit) but manage to make snow appear, and thus successfully freeing the fairy. Penelope claims that a murder happened at the Circus in town, though it is only a flea circus. Apparently, the circus used to be a larger attraction, but when it shut down, many of the performers took up residence in town. Mackenzie investigates to find that something did attack the Fleas, though initially suspecting a flea as the culprit. However, when a large anvil nearly kills all the fleas, the trail leads elsewhere to Dover, one of the ex-performers. His old circus act, animating tattoos on his back, was ruined due to a flea bite, and has been out of work since, and thus took revenge on the flea circus to try to get back into stardom. However, Mackenzie is able to stop him and save the fleas. 'Funghi breaks out! Funghi wakes up alone in Mackenzie's Room. He tries to get out but finds the door locked. He can hear her talking to Cromwell, and a mysterious shadow is seen. Can Funghi find a way out? What are Mackenzie and Cromwell planning? Whose is that shadow?! *Three escape mode episodes to solve the crisis. Reception and legacy As of March 4, 2007, Touch Detective has an average rating of 65% from GameRankings, with most critics praising the presentation of the game, but panning the actual gameplay. A sequel, Touch Detective 2 ½, was released in 2007. External links''' Category:Video games